1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image formation apparatus which receives data transmitted from plural external apparatuses connected to the image formation apparatus through a network and then processes the received data, a data reception processing method which is adapted to perform the data reception and the received-data process, a storage medium which stores a computer-readable program for performing the data reception processing method, and the program itself.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, according to development of network technology, a mode that a single printer connected to a single personal computer is used is changing to a mode that a single printer directly connected to a network is shared by plural users. Moreover, because the network is connected to the Internet nowadays, an Internet-ready printer which receives data through the Internet and then prints the received data is developed. In this kind of Internet-ready printer, a user authentication means which authenticates a user through a user name and a user password is provided within the printer so as to prevent unauthorized or unfair printing, whereby only previously permitted (authenticated) users (or host computers) can perform print processes by using this printer.
Moreover, in such an environment, to know and administrate which user (or host computer) uses the printer to what extent, a print administration system that a print server for administrating the use of the printer is installed and provided on the network and thus the user has to transmit a print job through the print server without exception is widely used.
In this kind of print administration system, the print server has a user authentication function to authenticate the user, a spool function to store the print job, a scheduling function to control the order of printing based on print jobs, and the like. Thus, it is possible to centralize various printer use conditions.
On one hand, in the Internet-ready printer which can perform the printing through the Internet because the network to which the printer belongs is connected to the Internet, everyone who can access the Internet can directly transmit the data to the Internet-ready printer through the Internet and thus cause the printer to output documents.
Here, it should be noted that the host computer denotes the computer which has a network address such as an IP address or the like.
In the above network-ready printer, there is a fear that a vicious user needlessly performs a great deal of printing through the network, whereby there is a problem that out of paper occurs due to the needless printing and thus the printer cannot be used any more.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-114789 discloses two methods to be used in an image formation apparatus which receives data transmitted from plural transmission sources through a network and processes the received data. More specifically, in one method, information representing a user or a host computer of a data transmission source is obtained from the received data, it is judged whether or not the user or the host computer represented by the obtained information is included in the users or the host computers previously registered and stored in the memory of the image formation apparatus, and it is determined whether or not to perform a necessary process based on the received data in accordance with the judged result. Moreover, in the other method, it enables to register the user or the host computer permitted to perform the necessary process onto a permitted-host list, it enables to register the user or the host computer inhibited (or rejected) to perform the necessary process onto an inhibited-host (or rejected-host) list, it is judged whether or not the user or the host computer represented by the information obtained from the received data is included in the permitted-host list, it is further judged whether or not the user or the host computer represented by the information obtained from the received data is included in the inhibited-host list, and the necessary process based on the received data is performed in accordance with the results of the. permitted-host list judgment and the inhibited-host list judgment.
However, in the background related art as described above, the number of the users or the host computers capable of being registered in the inhibited-host list and/or the permitted-host list of the image formation apparatus is limited.
For this reason, for example, there is a problem that the user of the host computer in which the relevant user of host computer could not be additionally registered in the permitted-host list cannot use the image formation apparatus if the user does not reset or invalidate the permitted-host list.
Further, because the image formation apparatus merely includes one set of the inhibited-host list and the permitted-host list, for example, there is a problem that, if it intends to limit usable computers with respect to each individual or group, it is necessary to reset the permitted-host list with respect to each individual or group.
Furthermore, in the background related art as described above, setting can be changed any time. Thus, for example, there is a problem that, even while the user of the host computer to which access is permitted is performing communication, such communication is interrupted if the access is limited by changing the setting.